Truths about parents and youth sports.

After 3 decades of coaching youth sports I have learned a few basic truths about parents.

1) Parents over value the talent of their child, sometimes ridiculously so.

2) Parents live vicariously through their children.

3) Parents believe if they pay for their childs playing experience they are also purchasing the right to interject their opinions and suggestions into the process.

4) Parents seriously restrict, hinder and otherwise impede their childs passion and progress for the sport they play.

In short, well intentioned parents can turn youth sporting experiences into nightmares for their children ...and by extension for everyone they come in  contact with as well. I remember one particular mother whom we shall call "Mary".  She cheered wildy for her son. The team? Not so much and especially not for any teammate perceived to be competition for her son's playing time or accolades. Her son was one of the unhappiest players I have ever encountered. He practiced angry. He played angry. Horrible teammate. Refused to help with equipment or take any other responsibility for himself or his play. Mommy had his back. In her eyes he could do no wrong. He played because his mother expected him to. He played to make mommy happy. Everyone else was an obstacle to the success Mary wanted for her son.

Your child will only go as far as his love for the game carries him.

Make sure your child is playing soccer because it is what he or she wants to do.  Make sure they have a passion for the game and are not playing because of your passion for the game.  There are better ways to seek your approval than by allowing you to live vicariously through their youth sport experience. Support your son's or daughter's interests and passions and accept that their's might not be yours.

Unless you played professionally, you really weren't all that good when you played either.  Don't build your own youth sports exploits into larger than life tall tales. Your child doesn't need the pressure of living up to the blown out of proportion mythical memories of your youth

Our local youth soccer league has what they call "Silent Saturday" that calls for complete silence while their child competes that day. I love it!   Don't insert yourself into your child's game.  It is your child out there competing, not you. You don't have a joystick to control your child's action on the pitch. Screaming instructions at your child only serves to add pressure to the situation. Your child wants to please you so imagine how he feels when he fails to execute as you are telling him to. Don't complicate his on-field decision making process by inserting what you want him to do into the equation. Your perspective is not his in the first place. Your "helpful insights" will be recieved as confrontational emotionally driven intrusions and you know how kids respond to those, don't you?

If you want to coach, sign up to coach otherwise keep your mouth shut and allow the coaches to do their job. Most youth sport coaches donate their time - planning time, practice time, game time and the time spent away from other activities.  You don't and therefore you do not have a say in coaching decisions and particularly not as it concerns lineup, playing time or general direction of the team. You don't have to remain with the team, but you better ask for your child's opinion before yanking him off the team.  If you want input on coaching decisions, sign up to coach otherwise keep your thoughts to yourself.

Remember always that this is about the child, allow him to enjoy the experience.  Youth sports are a learning experience for children and not just about fundamental techniques and tactics of the sport, but socially as well. The skills, be they athletic or social skills are his to learn, practice and develop. Be supportive. Provide a guiding influence but not an overly intrusive one. Just allow your child to enjoy the process.

My personal story of involvement with my son's sporting adventures?  Yes, I made some of the mistakes discussed above. Others I was witness to from the coaching sidelines.  My love was basketball. None of my sons have developed the same level of passion for basketball that I possess. I have supported their passion for soccer.  They play soccer. They referee soccer. They coach soccer.  Athletically speaking soccer is their passion. Through my support of them I have developed a passion for the game as well. I think that is how it should be. 

Our family has been fortunate to have many wonderful experiences centered around soccer. We have made countless new and lasting friendships through our participation. Occasionally we have rubbed shoulders with truly "great" athletes, coaches, referees and administrators of the game. Our lives have been blessed and enriched through our soccer experiences mainly because we have understood that soccer is something we do and enjoy doing together, but it does not define who we are.  The friendships I speak of having made? Those were made possible through our children's participation in soccer. That's the value of the game to us as parents.  The championships?  The trophies? The individual awards and accolades?  All fleeting at best.  The friendships are lasting.  The memories and bonds built with our children are lasting.  Allow your child to enjoy his youth sport experience and you will all benefit from it.

 

Sometimes the Process Falters

On Monday our U17 team had its worst practice ever. As a coach, I saw the process breaking down in the days leading up to Monday's practice. The team was becoming over confident due to their successful run through the league. Standing at 5-0-0 and within a victory of clinching the league title their focus was wavering. The truth of this can be found in a simple quote from one of the players "This is too easy. We should have played (in a tougher league)." 

I cautioned repeatedly of how our next opponent would play well against us despite their lacklustre record to date. Excellent coach and they had nearly two weeks to prepare for us. I could tell the players were not heeding these warnings. They were riding high and basking in their success while largely ignoring the very things that brought them to that point in the first place  - the details of the process.

The process of reaching our goals takes place every day.

The process is taking place when working on your own, in every practice and during every game.

The process is taking place at every meal and in the amount of rest we get each night.
We cannot allow ourselves to become bored with the process.

Ultimately the quality of our performance, our ability to achieve the goals we have set, will be determined by the attention paid to the details within the process.

I have traveled this path with teams before. I often allow them to fail and have at times aided in their failure in interests of long-term goals.  Failure can lead to change and from change success can arise. With a home and home against a quality side looming sandwiched around a Presidents Cup match winning our match on Tuesday was imperative, in my opinion.

Upon arriving at our opponents pitch it was obvious our team believed all they had to do was show up and the game was ours. Pre-match warmups were lethargic and punctuated by off-topic discussions. The opposing team was far more focused going through their pre-game rituals. They had a crispness and business-like approach.  

We began the match strong with good teamwork and excellent passing to get in behind their defenders 4 times in the first 3 minutes of the game.  We failed to finish on any of those chances. At the 7 minute mark our goal keeper played a soft ball up the middle of the pitch off a pass back that was promptly deposited in the net behind him. It was a horrible passive mistake by an experienced goalkeeper. A play born from a lack of focus and lack of attention to the details of the process. The tone was set for the rest of the match.

To further complicate matters the referee crew was subpar by the weakest of standards. I would hate to think it was intentional bias but we were whistled for 21 fouls as opposed to 6 for the opponents and were issued 3 yellow cards while the opponents recieved one.  My team rarely receives yellow cards and in my opinion none of the issued were warranted last night.

We fought through it all to tie the score 1 - 1 at halftime.  I was extremely frustrated with many aspects of our play. In particular the team having completely ignored the pre-game instructions regarding limiting touches in the defending and middle thirds of the field. We continuously attempted to dribble through multiple defenders. Selfish play rooted in not having a plan for what to do with the ball before recieving it.... the very thing that has been our point of emphasis all season long.

I attempted to re-establish some of these points of emphasis at half time, but it was clear the team was still tuning me out. They offered excuses for why they had abandoned the things we worked on. They were quite clearly not yet ready to admit the path they had chosen was one of false steps that would lead to the undermining of their goals, of their team mission.

We went down 1-2 shortly into the second half and my usually positive team began to get chippy with one another. Once again, I seriously considered alowing them to fail.  In the end I felt circumstances dictated we find a way to win this match.  I went with a line up of our most rugged kids and sought to simply overwhelm the opponents with our physical presence on the pitch. Yes, this did contribute to the discrepancy in foul calls. Yes, all 3 of the yellow cards issued against us came in the second half.  Yes, we did end up intimidating the opponents and setting them back on their heels. Almost the entire final 30 minutes of the match was played on their end of the pitch.

We evened the score at 2-2 and then saw a player coming from the midfield called offside on a bangoo - a pass back toward the 12 from along the endline. Bizarre call at best. We got the go-aead goal with 14 minutes left and hung on for the victory that clinched the league title.  I suppose we should have celebrated but I was nearly sick to my stomache over the way we played. We abandoned everything we worked on and reverted to playing American high school soccer. U-G-L-Y straight line soccer with no forethought of play beyond individually winning the ball and taking it to goal.  A style that will surely get our heads handed to us this weekend in Presidents Cup play.

We have our work cut out for us as we attempt to regain focus and re-establish positives from our play leading up to this last match. This match was a step back, but we will re-group and move forward again. I am just hoping it can be a quick turnaround.

 

Talent is not enough.

A dear friend passes recently.  I played left field and he had played left-center field on a men's softball team some years ago. By today's standards we would have been described as a bunch of redneck farmers playing softball. It's true, most of us played in blue jeans and more than a couple played in work boots. Never thought anything of it.  At least not until we entered a tournament and saw other teams in actual uniforms.  Our jersey top?  Purple mesh with gold lettering. Yeah, you could spot us coming from a mile away.

I think people took one look at us and laughed, until the game started.  We might not have looked like much but we were good, real good.  Speed and power on offense, gloves and throwing on defense. We rarely lost and were usually shocked when we did. Our greatest strength was found in our friendships off the field. We all attended the same church and knew each other outside of the game. We knew each others strengths and weaknesses as players and people, but most importantly we understood how working together we could cover for each others weaknesses and accentuate our strengths.

A coaching colleague's team recently lost in a state championship game and he expressed concern about feeling ambivalent about it. He thought maybe he should feel more upset about the loss than he did and was wondering if his passion for the game was perhaps waning. I cannot answer for him but I think perhaps he understood they lost to a better team. His team was comprised of a great group of girls who also happened to be pretty good soccer players. They accomplished all they could, they reached their potential and in doing so could not feel disappointed about falling to a better team. He felt a sense of satisfaction with having come in second and that seemed at odds with his competitive nature.

Recently I fielded a request to be interviewed about my time as head coach of Lima Central Catholic's girls soccer team. This team was a blend of the two described above. Little to no equipment, old uniforms, practice site was a construction landfill, never a winning record in 11 years and little school support. We self-transported or crammed into two school vans for most matches.  The girls seemed to accept such was their lot.  For years they played to expectations which was to underachieve. A small (17) but passionate about soccer group that I saw potential in.

That first season we won more games, scored more goals, allowed fewer goals than any team in school history. The situation immediately changed. The summer before the second season the AD introduced me to the new school president with a statement that I would have the girls soccer team playing in Columbus that fall. He meant the state championship game at Crew Stadium. Somehow we had gone from just experiencing our first ever winning season to expecting to play for the state championship in a matter of about 7 months? 

I had secretly been thinking we could make a serious run at a state title, but had never spoken of this to anyone. The talent was on hand to make such a run, but talent alone is not enough. Team chemistry was the terminology we used back in the day. Today it is often referred to as team bonding. The softball team I played on had it.  My colleague's recent soccer team had it.   The LCC group did not have it and the struggle to establish it would eventually decide how far the team would go.

I had always played second base as a kid. Usually batted second in the lineup.  As an 18 year old playing with men in their 20's and 30's on that softball team I found myself assigned to left field and batting 9th out of 10.  I did not care. I had made the first team, was starting and we were winning. I had the time of my life. My colleague had related similar stories of the girls on his team. Position changes, accepting roles, sacrificing self for team. 

The LCC group never achieved "team" status. Personal agendas took precedent over team goals. Talent carried them far but when adversity struck they did not have each other to rely upon. Trust had never taken root because personal agendas always trumped team mission. Truth be told there were two exceptional leaders at LCC. The problem was there were 3 negative leaders with overpowering personalities.  Parents of the negative leaders exacerbated the situation by insisting their children play a more significant role than they were capable of and holding the school financially hostage in order to get their way.  Finally the administration agreed a certain matter required disciplining specific athletes, but chose to ignore the transgression under threat of financial consequences to the school leading to the end of my time at LCC.

FWIW, I declined the request to be interviewed. I write of my experience at LCC now because I can relate it to my colleagues confusion over how he feels about his recently completed season. I felt a sense of relief in stepping away from LCC.  I will always wonder if they had ever become a team whether we could have won a state title. I believe the necessary talent was on hand, but talent alone is not enough. I walked away knowing I had done everything I could under my control to build a respected program and develop a team atmosphere. Without admistration support, I could not take that paticular group any further. I was, to me, strangely satisfied with what we had accomplished even while feeling we had left so much on the table from a talent perspective.

It's the same type of satisfied feeling I had after each softball season with the St. Matthew Lutheran Church team. The difference being the softball team achieved to its full talent potential because we were a team in every sense of the word. I think this is what my colleague has been feeling as well.  It is also what I am feeling with this spring's club soccer team.  A collection of U15-U17 boys playing U17 soccer.  The results have been good thus far, but the comradery has been exceptional. This is a group with many strong personalities some of which could certainly be negative if they chose to be, but everyone has bought in to the teams goals. Everyone.

These guys are true friends off the pitch as well as good teammates on the pitch. The truth of real friendship is a powerful force.  Call it team chemistry or bonding or whatever else you will. It is that elusive magic some collections of talent never find.  It is this magic that can bring out the best in individual talent as it pursues team objectives. I have been lucky to be a member of teams both as a player and a coach that have had "it".  This may well be why I can look back at a situation like LCC and not have regrets on a personal level.  I understand the decision to be a member of a team is made by each individual. We can work to include everyone but ultimately each member of a group must make their own decision. Sometimes people refuse to sacrifice personal agendas for team objectives and we cannot change their minds, but when it all comes together.... what a wonderous thing!

So far this spring I have been fortunate to be a part of a team loaded with talent and equally loaded with TEAM spirit.  I am thankful to have been so blessed. I know on talent alone these guys have a chance to achieve, but with the trust we have in one another we have a chance to really achieve. It's a great feeling to have. 

Is he coachable?

Invariably when a coach contacts me about a player the question of whether he is coachable arises in one form or another and usually very early in the discussion. Coaches want to know a player's capacity for listening to instruction, constructive criticism and suggestions. Will the player be receptive and will he use these focal points as points of emphasis to improve his game and advance to another level of play?  Is the player willing to learn or is he a know-it-all stuck in his ways?

There are lots of skilled athletes looking to play in college.  One of the determining factors in closing the deal between coach and athlete is the players willingness to learn. Is the athlete willing to accept feedback? Will he recognize the constructive criticism, instruction and suggestions are offered to make him a better player?  Athletes who fail to be receptive to coaching are the ones coaches tend to pass on.

On the club and high school level the same holds true. During tryouts coaches will often give "pointers' to the group and then watch carefully to see which players work to address these suggestions. I do this frequently with teams I coach. If there is a battle for a starting position or role on the team, which athlete do you think is more likely to win out?

How do you take constructive criticism, instruction and suggestions?

Do you react or do you respond?

Reacting typically involves competitive responses.  A coach will offer insight, instruction or suggestions and the athlete will be argumentative or dismissive either in word or deed. There is a disconnect between coach and athlete. Coaches dealing with this type of athlete will often invoke the word "trust" or lack thereof in association with this type of athlete. A lack of "buy in" will be cited. Coaches choose not to waste their time with this type of athlete.

Responding typically involves reflective, open minded thinking on the part of the athlete. There is a willingness to step out of established comfort zones with an acknowledged prospect of broadening their game. There exists an eagerness to learn as opposed to a stubborness to new ideas. Responding often involves question and answer discourse between coach and player that serves to build a relationship whose foundation is trust.  When a coach knows the athlete buys into the program he is more apt to be willing to invest as much time as necessary to help the athlete develop.

Coaches, the good ones anyways, are hyper-sensitive to "coach-ability".  The best coaches are  themselves coachable. These are the men and women that are students of the game. They are always in search of more knowledge.... and by extension they expect the athletes they coach to be receptive and eager learners as well. Technical and tactical knowledge are musts but the ability to build reltionships that foster receptiveness to learning from constructive criticism, instruction and suggestions is also a focal point of a coaches continuing education.  In the end though a coach wants to see the same level of committment to the relationship from the player as he himself puts into the relationship. If a player is not receptive and responsive, coaches typical dismisss them and find others who are. It comes down to decision-making on the athletes part. It's an athlete's choice to be coachable.

There is no secret about successful teams:

They understand the importance of role acceptance;

They play hard;

They play for each other.

 

 

Proper

 

 

 

Practice

 

 

Prevents

 

 

Poor

 

 

Performance

The Process Continues

After a couple of snow storms the team was finally able to take to the pitch for our first league match. I have to admit that this match held a certain amount of trepidation for me. I was not sure what to expect from our team let alone the opponents. The grass hasn't really begun to turn green yet and lawnmowers are still in storage here in Ohio. I wasn't even entirely sure the field would be lined when we arrived. Sometimes you just have to have faith and trust eveything will come together.

When, after an hour drive, we arrived at the pitch it was lined and the goals had nets! The pitch itself was far from ideal. Clumps of crabgrass had sprung up but the good grass was still dormant resulting in a very clumpy surface - a goal keepers nightmare for sure. Tempertures were in the low 40's with a brisk 15+ mph blowing out of the west. The field ran west to east.

As I mentioned in a previous writing, after the college showcase event I re-evaluated team formation and system of play. It was apparent I was asking too much of some players. My fault, not theirs. I assumed a certain level of soccer IQ or game intelligence was present as these kids have been playing for 10-12 years.  Believe it or not, some have specialized in a single position for the vast majority of their playing time and therefore lack a rounded or overall knowledge of the game. Even in regards to "their position" there is only a rudimentary understanding of the nunances of the poition they play.  Again, this is not the players fault, but more an indictment of the youth / development system they have come through.

The changes we made were to move to a 4-4-2 zonal system.  Many people feel the 4-3-3 is the easiest formation to learn the game in, but I disagree.  The 4-4-2 played with a flat back and flat midfield is the easiest formation / system to teach as there exists a certain amount of overlap in positional responsibilities.  Four channels of play with a defense based on pressure, cover and balance utilizing the channels for positioning. It is more static than I prefer, but also returns many of the players to a comfort level that will allow for the cross training necessary before we can consider moving back to the 4-3-3 formation.

Training to implement the changes was hampered by the aforementioned snow storms.  We did virtually no pattern play and a minimum of shadow play in the few training sessions leading up to this match. the focus was instead on breaking down old habits and establishing new habits centered on individual and collective patterns of play.  Many of the players receive the ball and then attempt to figure out what to do with it - one decision soccer.  Playing in this manner is terribly slow soccer that self-inflicts pressure.  Our focus has been on knowing the play you will make before your first touch on the ball.  Preparing to play before the ball is received allows for the first touch on the ball to be in the direction of your next play. This speeds up the pace of play.

There is much more to it than just having an advanced vision of the play you will make. For instance, movement without the ball is critical. It is player movement without the ball that predicates the movement. of the ball.  The majority, probably 85 % of our preperation for this match was focused on preparing to play / movements without the ball with the midfield being the focus of attention.  This was done with purposeful intent as midfield play was our weakest link at the showcase event a few weeks back. 

The match went well with our side earning a 6-2 decision. Overall, I feel very comfortable with our starters. Attacking play through the midfield showed dramatic improvement. I could see multiple decision soccer and forethought of play taking place to a far greater degree. The backs and midfielders linked well together. The forwards were still one dimensional and our focus in training will shift to their play this week.  Defensively the starting midfielders played very well individually, as a unit and in linking with the backs.  Our substitutes played well in attack, but allowed the opponents too many counter attack opportunities. We really lost control of the midfield when the starters were out. This will have to remain a focus of our training going forward.

The important thing to remember is to treat the season's journey as a process. We started down a path in Februrary. March saw us decide to alter our course. April has shown positive intitial results but there is a long ways to go yet. We cannot become bored with the details of the process. It is the small details that ultimately determine the success of our journey.

The Starting Point for a New Development Model?

For those of you in the United States, have you ever seen a soccer scout?

Think about it for a minute.

Baseball scouts taking in a high school game?  Yes.

College football coaches coming to your local high school? Yes.

Basketball coaches coming to your school or watching AAU games? Yes.

A recent article about Boston Celtics assistant GM  Ryan McDonough details his contributions to their scouting department. Of note is his tracking 750 - 1000 professional, college and high school plaers at a time. The articles provides an example of a recent scouting trip where he takes in 4 games in 4 different cities in 4 days. Such are the lengths the Celtics go to in search of players.

In almost 15 years, I have seen exactly one college soccer coach at a high school match evaluating talent. This despite some excellent high school programs producing student ahletes who go on to play in college. I have never seen a "professiona" scout at a high school soccer match.  In nearly 20 years I have never seen a college or professional soccer coach evaluating talent at a club team league game. College coaches can be seen at a handful of major tournaments and at the popular showcase events where they invariably track the players on "elite" club teams.

For the most part, soccer clubs expect you to come to them. There is "poaching" of players from other clubs with each new tryout season, but even those players are usually identified by a team having played against them the prior year. I actively scouted nearly 100 players last fall for a spring roster of 18-20. I felt compelled to if I wanted to assemble a quality team.  I've been wondering for months why clubs, colleges and US Soccer does not scour the ranks of youth soccer to identify young players?

Let's pick on ODP for a minute.  If you coach or play club soccer ODP officials will use your contact information for a mass emailing announcing the ODP tryout and training schedules.  I do not know of anyone who has ever received a personal invitation to the initial process. They expect you to come to them. I have taken part in this process and it is ridiculous. Anyone from the lowest level of recreational play to eventual state or even national team players show up in droves. 

If we want to change the development model I feel strongly the place to start is with a scouting department in each "state."  We need scouts on the local level indentifying taent and reporting to a state level scout who comes out to the local pitches and scouts individuals more in depth. That state levl scouting director should be tracking a thousand student athletes each year in order to identify players with the potential to play on state and national teams. No stone should remain unturned in pursuit of talented players.

It's simply time for the tail (clubs) to stop wagging the dog.  Instead of parents paying for their children to play club soccer, clubs should be scouting / identifying players and then funding their development.  This is how it is done in baseball (college and minor leagues), in basketball  (college, D-League, overseas) and football (college). Youthful players are scouted, recruited and provided an education, room and board or are paid while they develop their game.  In soccer we expect people to pay to be developed. That's not working out real well for us, is it?

FINAL: US MNT 0 Mexico 0

Playing a lot of young kids and unfamilar faces the US MNT went into Azteca and stole a point on the road!

Beasley was a warrior tonight. Not his best game and he struggled at times but rose to meet every challenge.  Besler and Gonzaes were superb. Cameron held down his side as well.  Guzan was really solid, very calm in support of the backs.

Thought Bradley was the key. His play and organization from the DM position were keys to the game, imo. Zusi provided the strong physical presence in support.

I am unsure what Klinsman was thinking in replacing Altidore with Johnson. he corresponding switch from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2  was a bit curious as well.  Thought the US had controlled the center channels well up to that point. They struggled to get numbers around the ball when playing in the 4-4-2.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing Klinsman - just not understanding his thinking with that move.  Perhaps he will enlighten us in post match comments.

Mexico will complain of the two non-calls that could have resulted in PK opportunities for the home side.  That's just sour grapes because they left a half dozen other scoring chances on the field. Convert on any of those and the potential PK's are renderedfar less relevant. Sometimes a little luck is needed and this time it shined favorably on the US MNT. 

Haven't seen the stats yet, but Mexico had more shots, more shots on goal and a staggering number of corner kicks.  The US MNT stood strong.  Poise, composure... they just didn't buckle and that is very encouraging.

New faces are emerging as starters and contributors. Players missing due to injuries or sabaticals doesn't seem to phase Klinsman and this group.  He's used a different line up in each game with an astonishing 59 players receiving caps under his direction.  That is going to establish a much deeper pool of players than the US has been accustomed to.  I am really impressed by the "next man up" approach of the US team as exemplfied by the young center backs to tonight.

Point well earned!

US MNT @ Mexico 1st Half

After a slow start the US MNT  began to sustain possession better. Jose Altidore's back to goal target play was a huge factor in this as he linked with Bradley a number of times. Was very impressed with the US patience in building attacks and the change of pace displayed once they hit Altidore. The lay backs and returns worked well.

I am concerned about Beasley's play at the left back. He has struggled and Mexico smells blood there. The two young center backs, Besler and Gonzales have held up fairly well. Some textbook examples of zonal flat back play with both stick and arrow in evidence,

The strength of this team seems to be down the middle of the pitch and that is where much of the latter part of the first half was played after the Mexicans dominated flank play early on.

0 - 0 at Half.  The US MNT is probably happy with that. The Mexicans, not so much.

We need to develop a better development model.

I was listening to Bill Russell as he related being a 5'10" 150 pound high school player and the last man on his team. This is the same Bill Russell who grew to be 6'10" and went on to become a two time NCAA Champion, an Olympic Gold Medalist and win 11 NBA World Championships in 13 years with the Boston Celtics.

This set me to thinking about youth sports and soccer in particular. We've all heard stories of the great profssional player who was cut from travel or high school teams, but persevered to make it as a college and professional athlete. Those are inspiring and motivational stories to be sure. I found myself wondering who in their right mind would cut a future professional athlete from a travel team?

I have conducted tryouts in a couple of different sports either at the request or behest of others. I have watched my sons participate in other tryouts. I have heard the speeches of keeping only the "X number of" best players.  I know each time I walk off the field and am asked to identify the "best" players I find myself thinking a more appropriate categorizing would be "the least worst" players. At youth sport tryouts, they all stink. There's not a refined or polished player amongst the lot of them!

A lawn care specialist, a bank manager, an accountant, a school teacher.... these were among the people evaluating young athletes at a recent tryout. I looked around at the group and wondered what qualified them to judge the athletic ability of  6 - 14 year olds?  I know for a fact two of them never played the sport they were conducting tryouts for, yet there they were with clip boards and stop watches "evaluating talent". They held the athletic fate of these kids in their hands.

I then watched as tryouts concluded and discovered exactly what I thought I would - each of those conducting the tryouts had a son or daughter trying out.  Want your kid to make the travel all-star team? Become the coach of the team! Not about to cut the kid of your best friend or your childs best friend either are you? If your child is not part of the coach's inner circle, the chances of making the team go down dramatically unless your child is physically advanced. You know, big, strong, fast, but not necessarily skilled in a technical sense.

What is the motivation behind tryouts like those described?  To assemble the best team possible in pursuit of winning the travel league and tournaments while lining the mantle with trophies, correct? What about development of the individual players that comprise the team? 

Individual development takes places when the individual works on his game away from structured team practice. In team practice the emphasis is on training in groups, developing teamwork, establishing team chemsitry. There is shadow play and pattern play with lots of match related games played. Team activities take up the preponderance of time in team practices.

It might be helpful to consider a players decision-making abilities at this point. Individual skill sets are the tools a player uses to solve problems encountered in the game, so individual work will help develop a players 1 v 1 decision making ability. It is individual skills that are the foundation of any players success.

However, when we consider that a single soccer ball is shared by 22 individuals in a game of soccer we quickly realize how precious little time any given player will have with the ball during a game. That time can likely be measured in seconds.  I have seen estimates that the average time on the ball for a professional soccer player is less than 2 minutes in a 90 minute game, substantially less. Let that settle in for a minute.

It would stand to reason that a significant amount of time should therefore be spent in traning the soccer athlete on what to do without the ball.  All youth teams, be they of a recreational or travel club level should have this as the basis of their training. The decisions a soccer athlete makes without the ball are what elevates a teams play on the field.

Now, if we refer back to tryouts and the people who often conduct tryouts for the "elite" or "premier" club travel teams a clearer picture begins to emerge as to why the US soccer development model fails so miserably. We focus on team when we should focus on the individual. The short-comings of the many individuals becomes the focus only when the overlooked players at tryouts catch up and pass the physically advanced youth all-stars.

I think back to my own development as a basketball player (we did not have soccer when I was young.)  and what I remember is countless hours spent on my own in the driveway, at the park, in the gym, in the garage or basement developing individual skills. Testing myself in pickup games against any and all comers. It is rather enlightening how few organized basketball games I actually played as kid.  The ratio of individual work to work done with a team is staggering. 

Not so for most United States youth in soccer today.  There is this belief that kids need to play on a team year round, that more games is better.  I see academy and club teams demanding a 10 month committment from players 10 - 18 years of age  and watch as those teams play 80+ games of competitive soccer in those 10 months. Is this really the best developmental model we can come up with?  Factor in recovery time from all these matches and when does an athlete have time to work on individual skills?

The scary part is the people at the grass roots of soccer in this country seek to emulate what they see the "big boys" doing. And so we have the mechanic, the attorney, the laborer and the accountant wielding clipoards, stop watches and whistles at "tryouts" for travel and club teams. The focus on providing their son or daughter a winning experience by surrounding them with physically advanced athletes. The result is an installation of what I refer to as a false passion for the game. True passion is found in those who have a soccer ball at their feet when no one else is watching. All too often the player with true passion is too small or too slow to make the cut at tryouts for youth teams and doesn't emerge until later in adolescence.  I see this all the time. The youthful physically advanced player fades away as others who have worked on developing skills to solve the problems big, fast, strong but unskilled players present take center stage.  They are often asked, "why did you not play club or travel soccer?  The answer is, "because I was cut from the team" or was never asked to play.

I recently had to cut players from a team I was assembling for this spring.  My basic criteria for making the team were demonstrated passion for soccer and a willingness to be coached. Potential players who showed passion as demonstrated by working on their individual skill sets on their own had dramatically better chances of making the team.  Those who demonstrated a willingness to be coached had a leg up over those who demonstrated an unwillingness to correct repeated mistakes. As we progress with our season I still wonder if I was correct in every decision I made.  Did I overlook a kid with passion for the game and a willingness to learn in favor of another?  I don't know for sure. I did my best to select wisely, but there is certainly room to second guess. I already have and there will be more of these moments in the coming weeks.  I hope I didn't cut the next Pele or Ronaldo, but I might have.  I am secure in my knowledge I did the best I could within the goal of developing individual players and forming a winning team. Time will tell.

"I play very simply.

That's what it's all about.

Playing simple football is the hardest thing."

Johan Cruyff

SNOW doubt about it!

My U17 team played a college showcase event in temperatures that hovered around 30- 35 degrees last week and it actually wasn't too bad. Our league has been postponing matches because of cold weather and forecasted cold weather for days now. And then there was our United States Men's National Team playing a World Cup Qualifier against Costa Rica in Denver, Colorado during a blizzard!

I love the idea of home pitch advantage. We took the Costa Ricans to the Mile High City to play at altitude and seasonably chilly weather only to be blessed with blizzard conditions. And they played on!

Have to credit the Costa Ricans for playing through it all. Great effort by them!  They could have folded and just played it out, gotten on their flight home and cursed the soccer gods for such rotton luck, but they battled and were quite dangerous at times.  At the 55 minute mark when it looked like the game might be called, the Costa Ricans were standing side by side with the Americans extolling the referee to allow them to play on!  Gotta love it!  That spirit and their effort made this an epic match to watch!

That's not to discount the United States effort for it was superior as well. Dempsy slamming home the rebound for a goal will be frozen into US soccer lore for all time. The images of players and referees with snow accumulating and freezing in their hair. Snow crews shoveling lines, injured players lying in the snow... pretty sure no one was flopping last night.  All memorable and in front of a sold out stadium crowd whose numbers will go from 19,000+  to 190,000+ as the tale of this game is recounted through the ages.

An extraordinary effort by the referee crew as well.  How they could see the lines at times is beyond me. Did the CR miss a foul in the PA that would have given the US a penalty kick?  Who knows?  Sure looked like the player was inside where the PA was supposed to be, but who knows?  Just thankful the visibility was good enough for the AR to see the offside on the Costa Rican goal... and for the CR to see the AR's flag up although I imagine they had buzzers on the flag and a communications system for the referees per usual.

I found myself yelling at the TV for the US players to "Clear it!"  or "Just boot it down to the other end!".... lol.... normally sacrilege, but last nights game was anything but normal. Far, far from it.

At the final whistle, The United States had earned a much needed 3 points... and a huge amount of respect for fighting through a blizzard to secure them. Well done gentlemen!

It's a process.

We took our team to a college showcase tournament recently.  I admit to trepidation in taking a new team to such an event for their first games. I believe we have the makings of a very good team, but one just never knows how a new team will respond until they step onto the pitch against good opposition.  The weekend brought a package of mixed results - some good, some bad, some ugly. The bottom line is, the event was a learning experience as much for me as it was for the players. Probably more so for me.

In assembling the team I evaluated individual members and attempted to place them in formational positions and a system of play that seemed likely to fit skill sets and personalities. As coaches, sometimes we get it right and sometimes we need to take a step back, re-evaluate and reformulate plans. A review of the teams performance is in essence a review of my own performance. Did I have the pieces assembled properly? Had I chosen formation and systems of play wisely?

Observing and analyzing in-the-game play is essential to improving individual and team performance. I give players tremendous on-field freedom emphasizing maintaining team shape over strict holding of positions and using formational guidelines to determine what shape we will have when attacking or defending. I not only allow but rely on the athletes to make in-game adjustments based on the problems they encounter when playing. Our success is predicated largely on the players ability to solve the problems they encounter. Training provides us with the necessary tools to solve problems, aka pressure, on both an individual and collective basis.

There was a moment during our second match that encapsulates the current status of our team and has me pondering the course to chart from this point forward. We came out strong against a good opponent leading 2-1 at halftime. I knew from watching the opponents in an earlier match their coach was very good at making halftime adjustments. The opponent made a single tactical adjustment that changed the flow of the game. An adjustment on our part should not have been necessary. All that was required was a recommitment to positional integrity and team shape within our systems of play when defending.  Unfortunately those are the biggest areas of concern with this group. As a group, they do not possess a broad range of soccer experience and some have played one position for their entire soccer career. In short, our soccer IQ appears to be too limited to play as I have asked them to play.

From a coaching standpoint I must decide if more time will lead to the improvements we need to make in these areas or if a change in formation and system of play will better suit the personnel of this team. It is important to listen to the players when making this decision. I had discussions initiated by five different players concerning their roles. I initiated discussions with a few more.  Some sought clarification, some offered suggestions, others expressed concerns. Through these discussions a picture began to emerge.

For our third match we made a subtle change to formation and team shape.  These changes addressed defensive concerns but might have hampered our ability to attack. Nonetheless, as I have continued to analyze our individual and collective play I find my initial thoughts on formation for this group requires additional consideration and thought. The system of play less so, but with formational change there will be tweaks required here as well. I believe we may be able to better utilize existing skill as we strive to broaden their soccer perspective and raise their overall game intelligence.

And so the process for this team is now better defined. We will regroup, make a few adjustments and prepare for the opening of league play in a couple of weeks. I really like the potential of this group and feel better about how to fit the individual pieces together to form a cohesive picture.  Time will tell, but I think really good things are ahead for this team.

The Truth about Stretching

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know one of my favorite coaching phrases is “Failing to Prepare Properly is Preparing to Fail”. In today’s writing I will apply this message to stretching.

Most of us were taught the importance of warm-up exercises in elementary school and carried these lessons through high school, college and into adulthood.  These warm-up exercises likely consisted primarily of static stretching. It was accepted that “stretching” before hand warmed the body up, loosened muscles and tendons and not only prepared athletes for the more vigorous activity to follow but also prevented injuries. Studies conducted over the last several years have debunked much of this and proven many of the more entrenched ideas concerning warming up athletes are not only a waste of time, but are actually more harmful than helpful.

The generally accepted school of thought that holding a stretch for a count of 15 or 20 seconds readies muscles for practice or game has been proven false by modern science. In fact, recent studies prove muscles are actually weakened by such warm-up routines. Static stretching can temporarily reduce strength in the impacted muscle by as much as 30% with a recovery time of 30 minutes or more. This is hardly the way to “prime” muscles for athletic competition.

A proper warm-up needs to accomplish two basic things: increase body heat / blood flow throughout the body, and loosen muscles and tendons to attain full range of motion in the various joints. 

By warming the body and increasing the blood flow we allow our muscles to utilize their stored fuel and process the oxygen we take in more efficiently. Warm muscles are also able to withstand strenuous activity and increased workloads better.

My teams formally begin each training session or pre-game with light jogging for the purpose of raising the heart rate from a resting pace to approximately 50 – 60% of its maximum rate over the course of approximately 8 - 10 minutes.  A rule of thumb we use is to reach a point where the body is just approaching sweating.

Then it is time to further loosen muscles and tendons in preparation for the activities that lie ahead. This is where we move off the beaten past of static stretching and onto the new path of dynamic stretching.  We now know static stretching actually weakens the muscle and inhibits its ability to perform at peak levels for up to 30 minutes after completing a stretching regimen.  Numerous studies have demonstrated that stretching the muscles while moving, or dynamic stretching, does increase flexibility, range of motion and power in the impacted muscles.

Dynamic stretching is at its best when the regimen is sports specific. For soccer this means a high emphasis on the core muscles as well as the leg muscles.  Attention must also be given to the upper body and arm muscles, especially so for goalkeepers.

Some dynamic stretching suggestions for soccer:

High knees

Butt kicks

Walking lunges

In / outs

Out / ins

Straight leg march, raising a straight leg then touching toes with fingers of opposite hand

Straight leg march, heel in ground with toes raised, touch / pull toes back

Shuffle

Crossovers

Carioca

Diagonal shuffles forward

Diagonal shuffles backward

Back pedal

Backwards run

Spiderman

Superman

Scorpion 

What about static stretching?  

Does it hold no value at all?  

We use static stretching as part of our cool down phase at the end of training or post game.  We begin with a very light jog sans shin guards and often times barefooted if the weather and surface allows. We then “shake out our legs” to address the accumulation of lactic acid that forms from rigorous exercise. This involves lying on one’s back while a partner takes your heels in hands and shakes your legs for a count of 30. We repeat this 3 times. 

At this point we move on to static stretching.   This is basically what was once considered a warm up routine.  Formerly such routines were done with a level of intensity appropriate to preparing to play. Now, as a part of our cool down this routine is done at a more leisurely pace with post training or post game discussion amongst the players. 

The studies are inconclusive in regards to the preventative benefits of either dynamic or static stretching. My personal experience has seen us be free from strained or “pulled” muscles in the 10 + years since we began utilizing dynamic stretches at the beginning of a session and static stretching at the end of sessions. There have been a very limited sprains as well.  Of course, we have suffered he usual bruises, nicks and scratches associated with play, but our overall healthy has been quite remarkable.